Raymond Lifestyle Ltd rejigged the remuneration structure of its new chief executive officer (CEO), Satyaki Ghosh, as the company seeks to stabilise leadership after cycling through four executives in five years.
Ghosh, who joined the century-old apparel maker as chief executive in January after nearly a decade with the Group, will get an annual cost-to-company (CTC) package of ₹7.35 crore, comprising a basic salary of ₹2.16 crore, allowances of ₹2.20 crore, retirement benefits of ₹30 lakh, variable pay of ₹2.10 crore and an annual retention bonus of ₹59 lakh, as per the company’s annual report for fiscal year 2026.
For the first time in the Mumbai-based company’s recent history, the board approved a ₹4.5-crore ‘Special Retention Pay’ for its chief executive. The company will pay the amount in three instalments over five years in addition to Ghosh’s annual remuneration. It also granted him 23,974 employee stock options, with 70% of the vesting linked to financial targets, including revenue growth, Ebitda and return on capital employed (ROCE).
To be sure, the remuneration structures of the company’s previous chief executives were far simpler and largely comprised fixed salary, allowances and retirement benefits, with little or no disclosed variable pay.
Shriram Subramanian, founder and managing director of proxy advisory firm InGovern, said investors should view the retention payment in the context of the overall compensation package and the extent to which remuneration is linked to performance.
“A total package of around ₹10 crore is not, by itself, unusually high. The more important question is why the company has structured the compensation this way,” Subramanian said, adding that the arrangement could partly reflect efforts to address leadership turnover.
Mint’s queries sent to Raymond went unanswered.
About the pay structure
“The role of a CEO has increasingly become a transformation mandate, not just an operating mandate,” said Rituparna Chakraborty, partner and regional lead, India at executive search firm True Search. Boards are now ready to pay a premium for leaders with a track record, Chakraborty said, but they’re doing it through pay that’s increasingly contingent on results.
Ghosh succeeds Sudhir Langer, who served from September 2020 until January 2023; Debjit Rudra, who led the company from January 2023 to July 2024; and Sunil Kataria, who took charge in July 2024 but exited in March 2025. After Kataria’s departure, Gautam Hari Singhania oversaw the business until Ghosh took over in January 2026.
The management reshuffle has continued beyond the chief executive’s office. Raymond Lifestyle on Thursday informed exchanges that Amit Agarwal, president–chairman’s Office and a member of the company’s senior management personnel, had relinquished his position with effect from 30 June due to personal reasons.
“Any turnover of CEOs in quick succession is something shareholders will be very closely watching,” Subramanian said.
In a January 2026 analyst note, Systematix said that FY25 had been weighed down by weak consumer sentiment, while the company continued to face operational headwinds ranging from store rationalisation and elevated marketing expenditure to tariff-related pressure in its garment exports business. The brokerage described FY26 as a ‘steady recovery phase’ for the company.
Companies are now stacking multiple pay components, such as joining grants, retention pay, bonuses, and long-term equity, Chakraborty said, reflecting a shortage of leadership talent and the multi-year nature of turnaround efforts. The logic, she said, is simple: pay for results, not just for holding the job.
A revolving door at the top
Debjit Rudra’s remuneration rose nearly eightfold from ₹55.02 lakh in FY23 to ₹4.24 crore in FY24. His successor, Sunil Kataria, earned ₹6.11 crore in FY25, marking a further increase of about 44% despite serving less than a full fiscal year.
The escalation continued at the top of the company. During a period when Raymond Lifestyle did not have a separate chief executive, and Gautam Hari led the business as executive chairman, his remuneration rose 72% year-on-year to ₹10.44 crore in FY26 from ₹6.06 crore a year earlier.
Subramanian said promoter-executives should derive a significant portion of their returns from dividends and that promoter compensation should ideally not exceed that of the company’s highest-paid professional manager.
The revised pay framework follows Raymond Lifestyle’s transition to a standalone, listed entity after its demerger from Raymond Ltd in 2024. The National Company Law Tribunal approved the scheme on 21 June 2024; the demerger took effect on 30 June 2024; and the company was listed on the BSE and NSE on 5 September 2024.
In its first year as an independent company, shareholders approved ‘minimum remuneration’ clauses that ensure full salary and benefits for top executives even in years of inadequate or absent profits. The company embedded the provision in contracts for Singhania and Kataria and subsequently extended it to Ghosh.
Subramanian said such provisions are not uncommon and are specifically contemplated under Indian company law.
“These structures are appropriate when accounting profits may lag strategic progress,” Chakraborty said. “But investors expect strong safeguards, clear disclosure, performance gates, clawbacks and independent oversight to ensure these protections do not dilute accountability.”
The company reported consolidated revenue of ₹6,888 crore in FY 26, up 11.5% from the previous year, and a 20.9% increase in net profit to ₹46.2 crore. This is the first full-time comparable revenue post demerger.
The company’s stock performance has remained under pressure. shares have declined about 71% over the last five years, compared with a 53% gain in the Nifty 50. Arvind Fashions rose more than 240% during the period, while Aditya Birla Fashion declined about 26%.